A Brand-New World

Someone was robbing an armored truck!

That was the first thought to appear in Zhang Ye and Pietro’s minds.

Kara, meanwhile, stared blankly at everything. She had no idea what was happening outside the alley, and since she had not properly grown up on Earth, she knew nothing about certain matters of common knowledge—like the scene before her.

The three quickly followed the sound out of the alley and onto the street, only to see that the armored truck had already vanished down the road. There were too many pedestrians and vehicles around, which caused enormous trouble for the police cars.

After all, the robbers could ignore traffic laws and run wild, but if the police caused a traffic accident while pursuing the criminals, they would only end up losing more than they gained.

After watching from afar for a few moments, Zhang Ye suddenly stopped the eager Pietro beside him.

Good thing he had reacted quickly, or Pietro would probably have rushed out already. "Don’t move. Are you planning to expose your superpowers in public?"

"But they’re robbing people, and they hurt so many people," Pietro said. Still, he was only voicing his thoughts. Once Zhang Ye stopped him, he had no intention of setting off again.

"It’s not like nobody’s handling it."

"The police? They can’t catch those criminals at all." Pietro turned to look at the police cars that had been left far behind.

"I wasn’t talking about them." Zhang Ye paused, then tipped his chin toward the sky. "There. He’s here."

At that, Pietro and Kara both looked up in the direction Zhang Ye indicated.

In fact, it was not just the two of them. Everyone nearby seemed to sense something and raised their heads, crying out in surprise. Some even pulled out their phones to record the sky.

High above, between countless towering buildings, a figure in a red-and-blue bodysuit raced through the air. He clutched a thin white webline in one hand, swinging from building to building.

Along with his rapid approach came a loud shout.

"Woohoo! Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is here!"

Spider-Man’s appearance instantly drew cheers from the crowd. Apparently, this was not their first time seeing Spider-Man uphold justice. Quite a few people were fans of this superhero who swung through New York punishing criminals.

"Whoa!" Pietro could not help crying out as well.

He was not exclaiming because he had seen a superhero. He was thrilled because ordinary people in this universe were so enthusiastic about superpowered individuals. In the universe where he was born, almost all ordinary people were deeply hostile toward mutants.

Fortunately, Zhang Ye did not know what Pietro was thinking. Otherwise, he definitely would not have let him get happy so soon.

Unlike everyone else focused on Spider-Man, Zhang Ye quickly withdrew his gaze and casually took a newspaper from a nearby newsstand. He needed to determine exactly which universe he was in.

His gaze shifted before finally settling on several headlines in the newspaper.

Stark Industries Launches New Energy Initiative Once Again, Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters Admissions Bulletin, Reed Richards Interview.

"What are you looking at?" Seeing Zhang Ye react completely differently from everyone around them, Kara moved closer and asked softly.

"I’m gathering intelligence. Every universe’s timeline develops differently, and that can be clearly identified through its superheroes. So I need to figure out what point in time this universe is currently at," Zhang Ye answered.

"My brother isn’t in this universe, is he?" Kara asked again.

Zhang Ye raised an eyebrow at that. He put the newspaper back and turned to look at Kara. "How do you know?"

"I amplified my senses just now, but I didn’t hear anyone mention Metropolis or Gotham City. You said my brother is Metropolis’s guardian. Since Metropolis doesn’t exist here, my brother isn’t here either, right?"

Zhang Ye stared blankly at Kara for a moment. He was somewhat surprised that she could listen to the sounds of all New York in such a short time, but he quickly composed himself and spoke.

"You’re right. There are many parallel universes with superheroes, and clearly, we didn’t arrive in the universe where your cousin is. Batman, The Flash, and Krypton don’t exist here either."

Kara nodded slightly. After hearing Zhang Ye’s words, she did not show much reaction, but Zhang Ye could still see a trace of disappointment in her eyes.

Zhang Ye did not know how to comfort her, so he could only raise a hand and pat her shoulder.

"Don’t worry, I’m fine. I had already considered this possibility before. Besides, as long as I follow you, I’ll be able to see my brother someday, right?"

"Mm. You will." Zhang Ye nodded.

Kara quickly adjusted her emotions. Although this universe did not have her cousin, she still did not want to spoil Zhang Ye’s mood, so she changed the subject. "So, what kind of intelligence did you gather? Can you determine which universe we’re in?"

"This… is actually a little hard to say." Zhang Ye gave a wry smile, then looked up at the street scene with a meaningful expression.

The moment Zhang Ye saw information about the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four in the newspaper, he immediately determined that this universe was definitely one from the comic-book universes. It might be an animated universe as well, but the chances were too low.

As for the worldviews of comic-book universes, Zhang Ye truly could not get a firm grasp on them right away. There were simply too many comic-book Multiverses, with so many designations that even Zhang Ye had trouble telling them apart. So he could not determine this universe’s timeline from the newspaper alone.

But one thing was certain: this universe was part of Marvel’s comic-book Multiverse, and it had developed extremely rapidly. Reed Richards’s full beard alone showed that this universe’s history of superheroes had already stretched back a long way.

Here, being a superhero was by no means an emerging profession. It was a great calling that had developed over many years, evolving through the growth and transformation of several generations.

Captain America had already passed on the mantle from Steve to the former Falcon, Sam, making him the second Captain America. Thor had become the All-Father and remained in Asgard, while the current Thor was Jane Foster. Out in space, S.W.O.R.D.’s space station stood in the cosmos, constantly guarding against extraterrestrial invasions of Earth.

And those facts brought even more questions to Zhang Ye.

For instance, did this universe have the Illuminati? Had its superheroes gone through two Civil Wars? Had those major comic-book events occurred in this universe at all?

Until he confirmed intelligence about those major events across the various parallel universes, Zhang Ye had only one feeling about this universe—deep vigilance!

(You’ll never guess which comic-book universe this is.)